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Carlos Marmol is one of the best relievers in baseball. When he’s on. Which is not always. And, because he’s a closer, those times that he’s “not on” are magnified.

But, undeterred, the Cubs signed Marmol to a weighty extension earlier this year, which pays him $3.2 million this year, $7 million next year, and $9.8 million in 2013. He represents an expensive luxury for a team not particularly in need of a closer (especially one who isn’t great at converting saves) right now.

And, when the Texas Rangers came a-calling about Marmol, the Cubs should have been tickled pink to make a deal. Sean Marshall has emerged as a less-expensive, but equally-effective late-inning reliever. He could take over the closer’s job for 2012, the Cubs could pick up some prospects, and could clear some salary for next season. Win, win, win.

Maybe the offer was garbage. But Marmol is precisely the kind of player the Cubs should be shopping. And, even if they aren’t interested in actively shopping him, if another team asks, you listen. Maybe the Cubs did. Maybe they didn’t. Based on how many other players are becoming “untouchable,” I think it’s fair to conclude the latter.

Clearly, something is going on behind the scenes that we can’t see. Whatever it is, it prohibits the Cubs and GM Jim Hendry from behaving rationally with respect to making moves to improve the long-term health of the organization.

Unless that mysterious “something” is itself something that helps improve the long-term health of the organization (and I’m not sure what it could be), you can feel free to tear the roof off of this place. In other words: get angry.

Omfg, what is Hendry and the Organization doing ? Oh thats right nothing as if yet. Sooooo irritate, we need to start making some drastic or at least realistic changes here. I dont want to deal with this crap a 3rd year in a row.

Sam

FUCK JIM HENDRY!!!

Caleb

Weird right? Seems like they would at least be listening. Oh well.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Marmol, perhaps more than any other Cub, should be a guy the Cubs think about moving. I’m going up the wall.

Joe Cartwright

Yeah, I was actually thinking that, because of recent outings, they wouldn’t be able to find someone to trade him to. Boy, was I wrong…

Jeff

They gave up Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter for Koji Uehara, so I’d imagine that what they were offering the Cubs was at least that good. It would have been a pretty nice deal to get for Marmol; a young starter, and a young first baseman who is tearing up triple A. That would have been a nice place to start the rebuilding, especially for a guy who has all but lost his job anyway.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Yup. Cubs probably could have gotten more, given Marmol’s age and more established track record. More still if they’d eaten some salary.

And the bad news just keeps coming in. I will officially “lose” it if I see something were teams asked about John Grabow and the Cubs say he is unavailable.

Sad time to be a Cubs fan…

Jeff

Brett, we need to start a “Save our Cubs” campaign. If we all send pennies to the Cubs head offices, maybe they will get the clue that we are sick of the losing and the waffling our front office seems to be so good at. With your ever expanding influence over the army of Cubs fans, I think we could make our voices heard. How many people have a jar of pennies laying around? If we organize it, make a central web headquarters for people to voice their opinion and flood Cub’s headquarters with pennies, someone has to take notice of our anger at the ongoing situation. All I hear are the crickets right now, which means all this losing just keeps rolling around in my head with seemingly no plan in place to put an end to it.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I like it. I really do. I think, though, that we should wait to see what happens with the front office regime in the early offseason. If no changes are made, operation “Save Our Cubs” (or “Spare Change for Change;” or “Penny Wise, Pound Foolish” – I’ve got dozens) is on.

Ol’CharlieBrown

That is a good idea. I’d be in. Maybe we could name it “Keep Your Coins, I Want Change”.

terry

I am no longer gonna b a cubs fan untill they get new management because its just way too frustrating and bad 4 my health.

Caleb

But, if were going to be great, and need a closer, we won’t have to sign someone new. That’s good, right?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Still drunk, I see.

Caleb

Well, yes, but the point is valid. What time is your blogathon over? Cuz that’s when I quit drinking.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

The Trade Deadline Blogathon ends at 5pm CST (6pm EST), which is two hours after the deadline (deals trickle in afterward).

Caleb

Nevermind. Can’t quit. Apparently, someone beat my high score on frogger. Have to reclaim the throne. Pride? Yes, but there’s also a keg of beer involved for the July champion. Which gives me till the end of the day. See what happens when the cubs are no fun to watch?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Trade Deadline Frogathon.

Caleb

Cool. Keep on keepin on, man. Lifes a garden, dig it?

Jim

The only explanation about this whole standing pat at the deadline stance that is keeping me sane, is that Ricketts gave Hendry orders not to move anyone. I’m hoping Ricketts told Hendry he will not be back next season and wants the new GM making the decisions on what the 2012 team will look like.

No sense in firing Hendry now, as Ricketts can’t interview any potential candidates while the season is still in progress. Let him finish this wreck of a season and take questions why this team is not trying to improve.

http://Bleachernation Dan Ballard

I would fire Hendry immediatley and hire Pat Gillick for the rest of the year, to evaluate what we have, what we need, and to get this organization back on track. The current front office seems to have no clue when it comes to the direction of the club. Do we stay with a mix of old(very old) and young? or blow it up and try to get young now and maybe win in a few years? Hire Gillick as president, fire Crane Kenney, then let Gillick hire the GM of his choice to get back to winning. What Hendry has done at the deadline, to me, is just down right detrimental to the future of the Cubs. Blow it up, let the kids play the rest of the year, and lets see what we have?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Gillick is an employee of the Phillies, currently under contract. The Cubs can’t hire him right now.

Jeff

And letting Randy Bush run things in the interim would not be any better than having Hendry do it.

spear

no sense not too, Hell, A trained monkey could better. eigh, eigh, I made a deal!

curt

wht the hell are the cubs doing, what is tom ricketts doing no wonder this team is so bad it starts from the top if they dont have a damn clue how can you expect the rest of the organization to have one , we have 2 be the laughing stock of the majors were this bad and everyone is an untouchable are yu freaking kidding me

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I have heard that other front offices are quietly chuckling at the Cubs (or at least questioning what the hell is going on).

Michigan Goat

MLB radio is blasting them

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Not unfairly.

Jim

I give up….

ry

who cares whether now is a good time or not, fire the dumbass now just out of sheer principle, hire gillick tell him to find the best gm possible and tell quade to pack his fucking bags and hit the road. heads need to start rolling sooner rather than later; i agree with terry, i am done with this team until i actually see one shred of a fucking commitment to winning and that our thumbs-up -their-asses owners actually give a shit about putting a winning product on the field. i hope the cardinals kick our asses 20-0 tonight on national freakin tv! and if dempster doesnt buzz hollidays tower tonight or put one in his hip, he is a bigger pussy than i ever thought he was.

Madprizamwoo

I just have a feeling Yankees and Cubs make a splash today and I’m sure Hendry will get screwed in the deal.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I don’t suppose the feeling is based on anything more than, well, a feeling?

Madprizamwoo

Nope just a feeling.

ry

everyone should be laughing at the cubs, they are an absolute joke, worst organization ever.

But in my 28 years of watching the Cubs, this is the least fun Cubs team I’ve had the “pleasure” to watch. (If I was a baseball fan just 3-4 years earlier, I might have a different opinion…)

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Citing to Bleacher Report necessarily invalidates everything in your comment (even if I otherwise would have agreed). My apologies.

Brian Myers

LOL …. gotta agree, it was just an easy way to prove the point.

Jeff

A good deal of the Bleacher Report articles are written by fans with worse grammar than some of the drunk posting going on here. I wouldn’t go there for anything but some entertainment. Most of their rankings are a joke, even if they aren’t meant to be. I am glad that this team isn’t owned by Mike Brown though.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I get especially testy about Bleacher Report because, almost weekly, I have to head onto a message board to explain that “Bleacher Report” is not the same thing as “Bleacher Nation” when an article of mine gets posted, and subsequently shredded for being “Bleacher Report garbage” by folks who haven’t actually clicked the link.

http://None Blinda

Can somebody please find Jim Hendry’s email address so we can send him the link to this website? He needs to hear what the fans have to say. WE WANT CHANGE!

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

I have a strong guess at his email address (corporate email addresses tend to follow a pattern), but I’m not going to throw it out there. I don’t really want him getting deluged by angry folks and then blaming me. Especially if this all isn’t really his fault (which remains a possibility).

ry

Cubs will make a serious run and maybe even break the mariners 17 game losing streak by mid month.

cubs

next homestand NO FANS SHOW UP

http://None Johnny

My bud who works as an intern with the White Sox said Kenny Williams was on the phone with Hendry today!? Wonder what he was calling about I heard on MLBTR they want more pitching depth after trading Jackson.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Haven’t heard anything about it, but it sure would be swell.

pfk

I think we have to give Hendry credit for a smart strategy. Waiting until the final minutes has worked great for him. Just look at the Lilly/Theriot for DeWitt trade. Er, wait, I take that back.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Jinx (in advance) – there’s a similar reference coming up in the next Update.

Brent

Marmol is going to make (notice how I didn’t say earn) nearly 10 mil in ’13?! What idiot offered him that kind of money? Oh, wait….

http://wwwbookdiplomacy.blogspot.com M. Ryan G

The reality is that we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes at Cubs headquarters…all we have here are rumors and chatter that go on every day. I’d make any reasonable deal I could, but we don’t know what the Rangers offered, maybe the Cubs wanted more than Texas was offering. I do concur with everyone’s anger here though.

VanSlaw

Yeah, I’d pass on trading Marmol when his value at its lowest. This one doesn’t upset me.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Can I, once again, ask for your reasoning in the form of a limerick?

VanSlaw

Very well.

There once was a pitcher named Marmol
Whose skin was the color of caramel
His recent hill bumbling
Left his trade value tumbling
Now he’ll fetch less than some arm on the farm’ll

Now I feel dirty.

Ah well, at least I got to write “tumbling” that time.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

It’s just so very good.

Toosh

I’d say it’s unbelievable that Hendry isn’t doing anything and Ricketts isn’t doing anything about it, but nothing this organization does surprises me. What an embarrassment.

Ralph

Does Hendry get fired in September (more coverage/embarrassment) or does he get fired during the offseason?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

My guess is they let him go when it will get the least coverage – World Series, maybe?

Joe Cartwright

So now that i’ve collected the chunks of my brain that were missing (except for the part that controls anger. Is that a problem? Cuz everything’s kind of mellow right now.), is there anything new?

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Nope. Re-explode.

spear

He should’ve been fired an offseason ago? Now we need to bring the torches!

Toosh

I believe Selig’s put a moratorium on teams announcing moves during the postseason.

http://www.bleachernation.com Brett

Ah. So my guess would have made sense then (teams trying to bury news).

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